The instant invention relates to hair styling apparatus and more particularly to a hair twisting apparatus which is operable by a young child for styling the hair of a toy doll.
A variety of different types of hair styling devices have been heretofore available for twisting or braiding the hair of humans and/or dolls. In this regard, the U.S. Pat. Nos. to Eronini et al, No. 4,038,996; Sapkus, No. 4,369,690; Shipman, No. 4,307,737; Sapkus, No. 4,580,585; Schwager et al, No. 4,582,074; and Larson, No. 4,583,561 disclose various types of hair twisting and/or braiding apparatus which represent the closest prior art to the subject invention of which the applicant is aware. However, the apparatus disclosed in these references are in generally relatively complicated, and, in general, they cannot be readily and easily operated by young children. Further, the apparatus disclosed in these references are not capable of effectively applying retaining elements to quantities of twisted or braided hair strands in order to retain the strands in a twisted or braided condition. Instead, they have required users to perform relatively awkward manipulative operations to apply retaining members to groups of twisted or braided hair strands, and this has further contributed to making the heretofore available apparatus unsuited for use by young children.
The instant invention provides a highly effective hair twisting apparatus which is capable of being easily operated by a young child for styling the hair of a toy doll. More specifically, the instant invention provides a hair twisting apparatus which is easily operable by a young child for first twisting a group of hair strands and for then applying an elastic band to the terminal portion of group of twisted hair strands in order to maintain the group of hair strands in a twisted condition. Still more specifically, the hair twisting apparatus of the instant invention comprises a housing including a handle portion which is configured to be held in a hand of a user, a pivotable trigger on the handle portion, and a jaw assembly on a forward end of the housing. The apparatus further includes an operating mechanism for operatively coupling the trigger to the jaw assembly such that pivoting of the trigger inwardly toward the handle portion causes rotation of the jaw assembly about a twisting axis. The apparatus still further comprises an elastic band applicator mechanism for applying an elastic band to the terminal portion of a group of hair strands in order to maintain the hair strands in a twisted condition. The Jaw assembly comprises first and second jaw elements which are biased to a closed position with an elastic band, and the means for applying an elastic band to a quantity of hair strands comprises an elongated shaft which is operative for moving the elastic band from the jaw elements onto the hair strands either before or after the hair strands have been twisted with the apparatus. The shaft is preferably forwardly moveable along a twisting axis, and the first jaw element preferably has a channel formed therein which accommodates the shaft as the shaft is moved forwardly along the twisting axis. The second jaw element is preferably pivotally attached to the first jaw element, and accordingly, the second jaw element rotates about both the first jaw element and the twisting axis as the jaw assembly is rotated in response to pivoting the trigger element. The second jaw element preferably also includes a recess on an outwardly facing side thereof for releasably retaining an elastic band on the first and second jaw elements prior to assembling the elastic band onto a group of hair strands. Further, the shaft is preferably mounted so that an actuator button thereof is exposed at a rear end of the housing to enable a user to engage the rear end portion of the shaft to advance the shaft forwardly in order to move the elastic band from the jaw assembly onto a quantity of twisted hair strands.
It has been found that the hair twisting apparatus of the instant invention can be effectively utilized by a young child for styling the hair of a toy doll. In this regard, the jaw assembly is adapted for quickly and easily receiving an elastic band thereon so as to maintain the jaw elements in a closed gripping position. Thereafter, the jaw assembly can be effectively utilized for grasping a quantity of hair, and by then operating the trigger on the apparatus to rotate the jaw assembly, the hair can be quickly and easily twisted. Thereafter, while the hair is still held in the jaw assembly, the shaft can be moved forwardly to disengage the elastic band from the jaw elements and to slide the elastic band onto the terminal end portion of the group of twisted hair strands in order to retain the hair strands in a twisted condition. The group of twisted hair strands can then be folded back on itself to cause the twisted group of hair strands to twist on itself.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the instant invention to provide an effective hair styling device which is operable by a young child for styling a the hair of a doll.
Another object of the instant invention is to provide a hair styling device which is operative for twisting a group of hair strands and for thereafter applying an elastic band to the hair strands to maintain them in a twisted condition.
An even still further object of the instant invention is to provide a hair twisting apparatus comprising a jaw assembly which is adapted to be held in a closed position with an elastic band and a shaft which is operative for disengaging the elastic band from the jaw assembly and for positioning it on a group of twisted hair strands held in the jaw assembly.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.